Man Utd 2-0 Man City: Mbeumo and Dorgu strike to kickstart Carrick interim spell in style

Michael Carrick began his interim spell at Manchester United in some style with a dominant 2-0 victory over local rivals Manchester City at Old Trafford.

Carrick, appointed earlier this week until the end of the season, made several bold calls with his starting lineup, including bringing Harry Maguire back into the starting lineup.

But the English centre half perhaps should have given the hosts the lead inside the opening minutes when he headed onto the bar at close range from a corner.

United continued in that positive vein, though, and were denied twice by the offside flag before the break, Amad and Bruno Fernandes seeing their efforts ruled out after both rounding Gianluigi Donnarumma to tap home.

Donnarumma was City’s best player throughout the 90 minutes and kept United at bay after the break with fine stops to deny Casemiro and Bryan Mbeumo.

But the Italian could do nothing shortly to stop Mbeumo shortly after the hour mark, as the Cameroonian finished off a sweeping counterattack with a superb strike into the bottom-left corner.

Only 11 minutes later, the Red Devils doubled the lead, Patrick Dorgu taking advantage of lazy defending from Rico Lewis at the pack post to nick in and convert Matheus Cunha’s low cross.

Mason Mount almost made it a perfect day for the hosts with a late goal off the bench, but his effort was ruled out for offside.

Regardless, a 2-0 win represents a near-perfect start to life in the dugout for Carrick, who moves United back in the top four.

City, meanwhile, are now winless in four league games and could be nine points behind league leaders Arsenal if Mikel Arteta’s side win at Nottingham Forest later on Saturday.

Relive all the action from a frantic Manchester derby with Metro’s LIVE matchday blog below:

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